Tag Archive for: Crime

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Shooting Outside The Echo Spooks Residents

According to several news sources, a man parked out front of The Echo opened fire on a few people who were leaving the nightclub last night at around 2:00 am. Two of the men were injured but released from the hospital, but the third was shot in the torso and is still hospitalized.

Rampart Police have not yet determined why the gunman opened fire or if there’s any connection to the victims, but the thought of such random violence has some of us Echo Park residents a little spooked.

“Scary stuff. I may have made an error in judgment in moving to this neighborhood,” wrote resident “Chris L” on The Eastsider LA comments section about the event.

But Lt.Wes Buhrmester of the Rampart Patrol Division is trying to be reassuring, responded to the comment: “You did not make an error in judgment in moving to Echo Park. And I say this being a resident of LA (Montecito Heights) myself. This was not borne out of any activity by the victims, or by the establishment. We are trying to establish motive. While it is not apparent as those of many crimes, there was some reason for the suspect to fire at the group, and we will ascertain it. Echo Park is still an excellent place to live, work, visit and do business. Unfortunately, no areas are immune to violence.”

We are hoping for a connection so that this doesn’t end up being some random violence that we could all be subject to. Be safe out there!

UPDATES:

  • It’s possible the suspect may have been standing in the street when the shots were fired, rather than parked on a motorcycle out front. The investigation is ongoing.
  • The Echo is beefing up security. From the website: “We are deeply saddened by the events that occurred outside of our venue last night and are concerned about the well being of those injured. As the investigation is on-going, we are unable to make any further statements regarding the details of the incident at this time. Please be assured that safety is our first priority and to ease the concerns of our patrons, The Echo will have additional security and street patrols in place for upcoming shows.”

Related Articles:

  • “Three injured in shooting outside Echo Park nightclub.” The Eastsider LA, June 21, 2010
  • “3 men outside popular Echo Park club wounded after gunman opens fire.” LA Now, June 21, 2010
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Northeast Crime Update

Here’s your Northeast Division Neighborhood Crime Update from Captain Bill Murphy:

Echo Park
We have a burglary trend in this neighborhood between noon to 6 PM. We have detained and/or arrested some suspects over the past week Some of these crimes maybe committed by juveniles and we have tremendously increased truant enforcement in the neighborhoods of Echo Park and Silverlake. One resident attempted to detain a subject (juvenile suspect) and unfortunately, he broke away and took off (please be careful about taking action into your own hands – your life is not worth taking this risk over). We did get a composite of this subject and put it out to all of our police officers.

Note: We did have an incident that occurred yesterday in East Hollywood (will not be in these crime statistics and the suspect is probably not involved in any Echo Park or Silverlake burglaries – but its an amusing story.)

Yesterday a lady came home and when she pulled into her driveway she noticed that her garage door was open and that a man was inside her garage rummaging through her other vehicle parked in the garage. She immediately asked him what he was doing in the garage and he yelled “I am looking for my friend.” Knowing that he was not her friend, she immediately pressed the garage door remote control she had in the vehicle she was driving – and then drove her vehicle up against the garage door to trap the suspect inside. She then calmly phone 9-1-1 and reported the burglary-in-progress as the suspect began to bang on the inside door pleading ” please let me out – I am on parole – I just got out of jail.- I can’t go back” He was immediately arrested and will be heading back to a confining 9 x 12 foot cell. While I do not recommend taking action – this was very quick thinking on the lady’s part which resulted in the suspect’s capture!

And for good measure, here’s the rest of the crime update for the rest of the Northeast area:

Read more

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“Distraction” burglary on Glendale Blvd.

From the E-Policing newsletter, sent today at around 1:00 pm:

On April 6th, 2010 at 3:15 PM an elderly distraction burglary occurred at the 2200 block of Glendale Blvd. The victim was approached by a male white who stated he needed to examine a cable wiring to the rear of her residence. She accompanied the male to the rear of the property and while there, a second suspect entered her residence and removed U.S. currency from her purse. Both suspects then fled the location. No vehicle was seen. The vict describe the suspect as Male White, Brown hair, Brown eyes, 5’10, 170 lbs, 25-30 years old. He was wearing a yellow shirt with “Tom Cat” written on the breast pocket and dark pants.

Please advise your neighbors of this in case they are not signed up for E-policing.

There are several things that you can do to prevent being a victim:

  • Do not answer your door to anyone that you do not know, even if they say it’s an emergency and need help
  • If they say they are from a utility service or other entity, ask for ID and/or phone the company and verify if they are representatives
  • Do not leave a worker inside your home while another one leads you around your home or yard
  • Report suspicious activity or people loitering in the area.

For emergencies, call 911
For Non-Emergencies call 1-877-ASK-LAPD

Be careful out there!

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Be On the Alert for “Scammers” At Your Doorstep

From Captain Bill Murphy in a Northeast community newsletter sent out this afternoon:

Hello, just wanted to update everyone on a problem that has been occurring in Silver Lake and possibly Franklin Hills. A male Caucasian, in his 20s, has been going door to door asking for donations. He uses different pitches to try and get residents to give him money. One of these is that he is a member of the USC Baseball Team and he is collecting money for the team to attend an upcoming baseball tournament. Another is that he grew up in the area “don’t you know my parents?” then requests a donation to assist him to pay for his schooling. Anyway, whatever the pitch is you should be cautious. He begins by being very charming but when it becomes evident that the residents are not going to give him money – he becomes agitated. To date, we have not heard that any of the incidents have escalated beyond this. There were rumors flying around regarding him pushing residents, etc… but we have no reports that this ever occurred. He appears to simply be a scammer seeking donations door to door.

Also, some residents are worried that his actual purpose is to “case” their home for a future burglary or distract them so another person could steal from them. While it is possible that he is casing – I do not believe that this is the case. Generally, suspects who case an area do not want to bring attention to themselves. They are there to quietly select targets. The last thing they want to do is go door to door getting into arguments with residents – it bring way too much attention on them. And I do not believe he is committing distraction burglaries either. We have no reports of this and all the information I have simply talks about him being by himself trying to solicit donations.

An alert witness wrote down a license plate of a vehicle he may be using. We are working this up and I have placed extra officers in the area. We should be able to find him and find out what he is up to (book him if we can). The acts that he has committed so far (aggressive solicitation with fabrication) amount to low-level misdemeanors.

Here are some strategies to use on people seeking donations at your door:

1. DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR if you do not know who’s there.

2. Do not give any personal information whatsoever during the conversation.

3. Do not become engaged in a long discussion – they are good communicators and want to break you down to get a donation.

4. If the person persists, tell him to leave literature about his cause and you’ll take a look at it – be polite – but tell him you have to go.

5. Call LAPD Northeast Area (213) 485-2563 if you see him or he comes to your door. My officers will be alerted to this problem.

Thanks Bill

26152@lapd.lacity.org

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“Home invasion” last night in Angeleno Heights

The LAPD needs your help in identifying suspects in a home invasion last night in Angelino Heights. The suspects, who were posing as police officers, also attempted to rob the family after knocking on the front door of house located on the 900 block of White Knoll Street.

Thankfully, no one was injured and nothing was taken from the family’s home.

After opening the screen door, “the uniformed suspect threw a clipboard on the floor then grabbed the 55-year-old woman by her throat and threw her to the floor,” said Lt. Paul Vernon, commanding officer of LAPD’s Central Detective Division.  “Her 21-year-old son intervened and the suspect threw him to the ground as well.”

According to the blog post, “The suspects were described as Hispanic men between 30 and 40 years old.  Only one wore a long-sleeve, blue security uniform.  The other wore a black sweatshirt and green pants.  The suspects drove away in a black Infinity or Highlander SUV.”

If you have any information, please call robbery detectives at 213-972-1244.  During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7.  Anonymous tips can also be called into Crimestoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477) or by texting 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone.  All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.”  Online tips may be placed at www.LAPDOnline.org, by clicking on “webtips” and following the prompts.

Click here to read the entire LAPD blog post about the incident.

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Sunday’s Arrests on Duane and Echo Park Ave

via andysternberg on Flickr

We recently noticed this Flickr photo in our Echo Park Now Flickr group, uploaded on Sunday, March 6. Well, thanks to the Eastsider, we think we know what this was all about. According to this post:

“…in Echo Park on Sunday afternoon, police detained some males near the intersection of Echo Park Avenue and Duane Street as part of an investigation into a potential burglary. But Murphy said the ‘investigation determined no burglary and they were released.'”

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Last night’s police activity

Courtesy Eastsider LA

Courtesy Eastsider LA

Last night’s police and helicopter activity closed off Echo Park Avenue between Effie Street and Duane Street. According to Eastsider LA, as of 12:05 AM officers had apprehended the suspect.

“A police helicopter hovering over Echo Park tonight is part of a search for a suspect who dropped a gun following an investigation in the 1900 block of Echo Park Avenue, according to an officer at the scene. No shots were fired, the officer said.

“Police have blocked off Echo Park Avenue between Effie Street and Duane Street. The search appears focused on the hills to the east of Echo Park Avenue near Lucretia Street.”

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